NJC Issues Advisory to 27 Judges, Launches Probe Into Alleged Judicial Misconduct

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has issued a cautionary letter to Justice O M Olagunju of the Oyo State High Court, urging her to exercise greater restraint and professionalism in her judicial duties.

This cautionary letter was in response to that from Justice Olagunju to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, in which she used what has been described as “uncouth language” while challenging the NJC’s decision and policy regarding the appointment of the President of the Customary Court of Appeal in Oyo State.

In a statement released on Friday by NJC’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, the Council also announced the establishment of four investigative panels to probe 27 High Court judges across the country over allegations of judicial misconduct. The NJC made this decision during its 106th meeting, presided over by the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.

The Council reviewed the report from its Preliminary Complaints Assessment Committee, which assessed 22 petitions lodged against 27 judicial officers from both Federal and State High Courts. After careful consideration, the NJC deemed some of these petitions meritorious enough to warrant further investigation and has thus empaneled four committees to probe the allegations.

However, not all complaints were found to have merit. A total of 18 petitions were dismissed for various reasons, including lack of merit, abandonment by the petitioners, or because they were subjudice (already under judicial consideration).

The dismissed petitions were filed against prominent judges, including the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, and several Justices of the Court of Appeal: Justice Williams Dawodu, Justice B. Georgewill, Justice Yargata Timpar, Justice S. Samchi, Justice Aisha Aliyu, Justice A. Aderibigbe, Justice M. Shuaibu, Justice H. Abiru, and Justice Abdulazeez Waziri.

Other dismissed cases involved the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, and Justices Z. Abubakar, James Omotosho, and Sunday Onu, as well as former Federal High Court Justice Okon Abang.

Additionally, petitions against Justice Kayode Agunloye of the FCT High Court, Justice Babagana Karumi of the Borno State High Court, Justice Maimuna Abubakar of the Niger State High Court, Justice A. Aderibigbe of the Osun State High Court, and Justice Aisha Aliyu of the Nasarawa State High Court were also dismissed.
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